Illegal Immigration in Canada and the United States: Sanctions against Illegal Immigration and its Overall Impact
Should illegal immigrants be forced to leave? This is a question that has been hotly debated for decades in both Canada and United States. While there are obvious drawbacks to illegal immigration, there are many more compelling reasons that effectively argue why undocumented residents in Canada and the U.S. should be permitted to remain in their adopted countries. This paper will review the current sanctions for those who contravene immigration policies, and will present the positive contributions of illegal immigrants.
From the time Canada became a nation until 1895, a relatively free entry system allowed numerous immigrants to …show more content…
It is certainly easier to migrate to the U.S. than Canada (Jedwab & Hardwick, 2010), but enforcement of sanctions for illegal immigrants is much more intense. Local police in addition to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are authorized to arrest and screen those suspected of being illegal immigrants. For those who are arrested and sent to local jails, the Priority Enforcement Program (PEP) has successfully linked local jails to federal immigration databases which makes it easy to identify illegal persons (PEP, n.d.). This could be viewed as a positive measure because it would remove those who are not positive contributors to society, but what about those who do not get convicted? While they may be proven innocent of the crimes for which they were arrested, they would still eventually be sent to immigration detention facilities and be treated like criminals.
Undocumented immigrants impact Canadian and American society in many positive ways. They meet labour needs, they contribute to the economy as workers and consumers, and they add to the ethnic and cultural diversity of both …show more content…
These essential industries require a large unskilled or low-skilled workforce that is willing and able to work in remote areas, sometimes seasonally, and often for low pay. Many undocumented workers are, in fact, not completely without skills or education but are willing to work their way up from the bottom or even remain in low paying jobs in order to remain in a country with better opportunities (Constable,
Should illegal immigrants be forced to leave? This is a question that has been hotly debated for decades in both Canada and United States. While there are obvious drawbacks to illegal immigration, there are many more compelling reasons that effectively argue why undocumented residents in Canada and the U.S. should be permitted to remain in their adopted countries. This paper will review the current sanctions for those who contravene immigration policies, and will present the positive contributions of illegal immigrants.
From the time Canada became a nation until 1895, a relatively free entry system allowed numerous immigrants to …show more content…
It is certainly easier to migrate to the U.S. than Canada (Jedwab & Hardwick, 2010), but enforcement of sanctions for illegal immigrants is much more intense. Local police in addition to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are authorized to arrest and screen those suspected of being illegal immigrants. For those who are arrested and sent to local jails, the Priority Enforcement Program (PEP) has successfully linked local jails to federal immigration databases which makes it easy to identify illegal persons (PEP, n.d.). This could be viewed as a positive measure because it would remove those who are not positive contributors to society, but what about those who do not get convicted? While they may be proven innocent of the crimes for which they were arrested, they would still eventually be sent to immigration detention facilities and be treated like criminals.
Undocumented immigrants impact Canadian and American society in many positive ways. They meet labour needs, they contribute to the economy as workers and consumers, and they add to the ethnic and cultural diversity of both …show more content…
These essential industries require a large unskilled or low-skilled workforce that is willing and able to work in remote areas, sometimes seasonally, and often for low pay. Many undocumented workers are, in fact, not completely without skills or education but are willing to work their way up from the bottom or even remain in low paying jobs in order to remain in a country with better opportunities (Constable,